Two-way radios are generally mounted in emergency-type vehicles such as police cruisers, ambulances, fire fighting vehicles and other emergency-related vehicles. The radios provide multiple frequency channels for communication between other vehicles also equipped with two-way radios. The radios may be either mounted under the dash board of a vehicle or mounted in the dash if space is available.
The emergency vehicles are commonly subjected to hard driving conditions that include traveling over rough roads or terrain. It is necessary, therefore, to provide equipment mounted within the vehicle that will withstand the constant vibrations and shocks experienced by the vehicles.
In particular, the two-way radio is a vital piece of equipment in an emergency vehicle. Continual and reliable operation of the radio is critical. The radio must be designed and assembled with the driving characteristics of the emergency vehicles in mind and the durability of the radio as the objective.
The speaker is an important element in a two-way radio. It is essential that the speaker be securely mounted within the housing of the radio so vibrations and shock will not cause the speaker to loosen from its mounting. If this occurs, the speaker may be exposed to vibration which could adversely affect the sound quality of the speaker and possibly hamper radio communications.
Furthermore, the method of mounting a speaker to a radio has important design considerations. Speakers are traditionally mounted using screw fasteners or hold-down clamps. These mounting techniques require a great deal of space within the radio housing and are difficult to use in deep and confined spaces. Without an alternative means of mounting the speaker, the design of the radio is hampered, due to the wasted space that must be allocated for the speaker mounting means. The additional space used for the conventional mounting means could be used more efficiently; for example, the visual display on the radio face could be increased in size so that the radio user can more easily read the displays, or the space could be used to increase the number or size of the user controls (buttons, knobs) to make the radio more useful or easier to use.
For these reason, a method and apparatus is needed that solves the problem of a speaker loosening from its mounting within the housing of a two-way radio installed in an emergency vehicle and that also reduces the amount of space in the radio for the mounting means.